Little Red
by Ruler of Glowiness
Summary: Remus Lupin and Ginny Weasley. A twist on the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. In this verison Little Red is bring the wolf food willingly, instead of becoming the wolf's food. What will come of Ginny's visits to Remus' house? Friendship or more?


AN: I have this amazing fascination with the story of Little Red Riding Hood and I'm Harry Potter obsessed so that ought to give you an idea of where this came from. Although I'm not sticking strictly to the Little Red story…the main wolf in this is a bit nicer.

"Ginny! Come down here, dear!" called the voice of a plump women from the kitchen of a rickety old house.

A ruckus came from the stairs as a young girl descended them. Clad in her pajamas she appeared in the kitchen before her mother rubbing sleep from out of her eyes.

"What'd you need mum?" she yawned and stretched her arms out behind her "I was still sleeping. Having a really lovely dream too."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping you'd be willing to deliver this basket of food to Professor Lupin. The full moon was a night ago and I thought he might appreciate it if he didn't have to cook for himself. I wish he'd find someone to settle down with; a bachelor's life just doesn't suit him." Molly sighed thinking of the lonely werewolf that had moved into a cottage in the middle of the woods near the Burrow. With all the stress from his transformations, Molly couldn't understand how Remus survived living such a lonely life. Just because he's a werewolf, thought Molly, doesn't mean he should have to live in isolation.

"Sure, mum. I've got nothing better to do today. Maybe I'll even walk there instead of flooing. Just let me put a change of clothing on." With that the red-haired girl disappear up the stairs again, making just as much of a ruckus going up as she had made coming down.

* * *

Ginny had barely gone three steps away from the Burrow when her mother called her back. She had forgotten her cloak and her mother thought that, as it was slightly chilly out, Ginny might like to have one. Ginny's mother, however, had chosen the one cloak she'd least like to have. The cloak was red with gold trimming and had been a gift from her late Grandmother Weasley for being accept into Gryffindor. Ginny hated the thing. It clashed horribly with her violently red hair.

"Why would someone who has red hair themselves buy a cloak that clashes so horribly with it? The stupid thing makes me look ridiculous." She grumbled as she trekked down the fresh path to Remus' lonesome cottage.

The deep she advanced into the forest the dark it seemed to become. The only light came from the small sunbeams that happened to make it pass the ever-stretching limbs of the trees above. As the trees grew larger and their branches blocked more of the sky, the path Ginny had been following grew wider and split at points because a tree had decided to grow in the middle of it. No longer sure if she was following the right path, she hoped she'd reach Remus' house soon. Pulling her cloak closer to herself she looked around at her surrounding and hurried ahead. She could've sworn that in the quick glance she took she saw the shadow of something following her.

* * *

Remus Lupin was not a happy man, although he was happy to be a man. The transformation that had taken place nights ago still made his bones ache. The simplest of action made his arms and legs feel like gelatin. The worst part of his whole ordeal was the ache coming from his stomach. It yearned to be fed, yet the rest of his body refuse to cooperate with him enough for him to feed it. Just as he had managed to convince his legs to cooperate with him, he heard a knock at his door.

"I wonder who'd be visiting me out here?" he asked himself before opening the door.

What he saw surprised him. There on his front step was a small bundle of red. He stared at it, trying to decipher what exactly it was.

"Professor Lupin!" the bundle of red greeted him.

He blinked. Had the bundle just spoken to him? Crazy, that's what he was. Here he was, right after one of transformations, hallucinating about a speaking bundle of red cloth. He blinked again.

"Professor? Are you alright?" the bundle asked.

"No." responded Remus. "I think the hunger is finally getting to me. I'm seeing a talking bundle of red cloth."

"Oh!" gasped the bundle. "You know I've always hated this cloak."

A pale freckled hand shot out from under the bundle and grasped the top of it. The hand pulled away the cloth to reveal a young girl's head, whose hair matched the exact shade of the red bundle of cloth. Remus realized that the talking bundle of cloth had not been a hunger brought on hallucination, but was actually Ginny Weasley, youngest member of the Weasley Clan.

"Ah! Hello, Ginny. Almost didn't see you there."

"Yes, I know…you thought I was a talking bundle of red cloth." Ginny hid her giggles behind her hand.

"Odd things happen to ones mind when it is kept from the nourishment it requires." Remus replied feeling slightly embarrassed. "Please, do come inside. I'm sure it warm in here than it is out there."

Ginny nodded and entered the small cottage. Remus took the basket she had been carrying from her and set it down on his kitchen table. Taking her cloak off and hanging it by the door, Ginny glanced around at the room she'd walked into. It was a small, scarcely furnished sitting room with a small fire blinking in and out of existence.

"You can sit down, you know. I'm sure you've had a long walk here. Why did you walk here anyway? You could have floo'ed in." Remus called from the kitchen.

"I thought it'd be rude to show up unannounced." Ginny replied taking a seat on one of the shabby grey chairs near the fire. "It was a nice day for a walk."

Remus reentered the room with a sandwich in his hand and took a seat in the matching grey chair next to Ginny.

"I'm glad you came when you did, the hunger was starting to get to me." Remus heard a soft laugh come from Ginny at that statement. His comment about her being a talking bundle of cloth must have still been on her mind. "You'll have to thank your mother for the basket of food. It was kind of her."

Ginny nodded her head in response. They sat in silence while Remus finished his sandwich. They both felt slightly awkward being a former student and professor and not knowing what would be safe to discuss with one and other. Ginny searched her mind and opened her mouth to say something when she heard Remus' voice.

"It's starting to get dark." He stated glancing out the window.

"It is." She agreed.

They glanced at one another and their eyes briefly met. They stared, brown into brown, until Remus abruptly got up and pulled his wand out. With a mumbled spell and a flick of his wrist, the dieing fire illuminated the room bright than before. Pocketing his wand, Remus stood. He deposited his now empty plate in the kitchen sink and went back to the sitting room to find Ginny at the door with her red cloak on and her wand in her hand.

"I've got to head back now. Mum'll start to wonder if I've gotten lost." Ginny said.

"Of course, your mother has every right to worry about you walking through those woods. There are some spooky creature in these woods after dark."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. It's not dark yet."

"Just be careful. I don't know what Molly would do to me if you didn't show up back at the Burrow." Remus cracked a small smile.

"I will be."

With that serving as enough reassurance to Remus, Ginny set of down the path she'd some from earlier. Remus watched her go until the red of her cloak could no longer be seen from his doorstep. He sighed, knowing it was useless to worry and that Ginny could take care of herself quite well. It wasn't until later that evening when he was hungry once again, that he realized she had left her mother's basket there.

"I'll have to return it to Molly sometime soon." He told himself. "I'm sure she'll want it back."


End file.
